1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to the arts of computer graphics and electronic image processing, and more specifically to the field of human-computer interface techniques for a group (one or more) of people simultaneously interfacing to one computer.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Much work has been done in recent years to facilitate the one-on-one interaction of a human and a computer. This interaction is bidirectional, human-to-computer and computer-to-human. The present invention relates to the human-to-computer direction.
Devices commonly available for this purpose include computer keyboards, mouse, light pen, trackball, microphone, and, through the MIDI communication channel, a wide variety of musical instruments. In a situation where more than one person wishes to communicate to a computer simultaneously, as in, for example, the case of an audience controlling the course of a movie story, prior art has little to offer. The only techniques available fall into two similar categories: wired seats and radio transmitters.
Wired seats refers to the placement, at several or all seats in a room, of some kind of electronic signalling device consisting variously of buttons, switches, dials, etc. These devices are connected via wires to a computing or tabulating device which registers the actions made by the people occupying the seats. This method is often used to tabulate votes in legislative bodies, and to record subject reactions in the testing of television commercials. It, of course, requires significant advance preparation of the room, which may not be convenient or possible in many cases.
The laying of wires in the room can be avoided by the second prior art method, wireless communication.
Here, the seats, or the people individually or in groups, are provided with signalling devices connected to a radio or infrared transmitter. Some form of multiplexing is employed to keep all the signals separated. The wireless method has the advantage that no wires need to be run, and, in addition, the people may be free to mill about in the area, not being confined to their seats. This method has the disadvantage of cost, transmitters and receivers costing far more than wires, with the attendant potential losses if transmitters are handed out to members of an audience. Also there are practical limits to the number of simultaneously transmitting devices, especially if low cost and/or low power are considerations.